Writer, Explorer and Travel Philosopher
It’s that time again.
I typically read about 100 books a year. Everything from travel literature to poetry, history, psychology, fiction and memoir.
I love reading lists and recommendations, and I bet a few of you do, too. So at year’s end, I like to take a moment to share my top reads of the past twelve months.
Evening views over Pariser Platz from the Akademie der Künste exhibit…
Okay, I swiped that title from Steve Kilbey. It’s the name of a really cool box set containing a CD of spoken word tracks that accompany a series of postcards printed from his paintings. I highly recommend checking it out — my favourite prose poetry pieces on there are The Visitor and The Lonely City.
Tachikawa has grown and changed…
I’ve been running this website since March 2009, and this is my 300th blog. I guess that’s an anniversary of sorts, and it got me thinking about my early years as a writer.
You get out of a trip what you put into it…
The topic of pre-trip reading came up on my Facebook page the other day when we were discussing Iceland.
I want to share a little of my process, because I think you’ll find it helpful.
It’s that time again.
I typically read about 100 books a year. Everything from travel literature to poetry, history, psychology, fiction and memoir. I love reading lists and recommendations, and I bet a few of you do, too.
So at year’s end, I like to take a moment to share my top reads of the past twelve months.
Our greatest living travel writer does it again.
I think this may be Paul Theroux’s best travel book in years. It’s more considered and introspective than some of his previous (all thoroughly excellent) books. Perhaps because it’s based on repeated journeys through the same places over the course of four seasons, rather than a journey through a place wth an end goal in mind.
I’ve always gotten a lot of comments about the book cover of Vagabond Dreams.
It really jumps off the shelf, and I loved it the first time I saw it. I thought you might like to know some of the symbolism behind it.
I read something like 100 books a year. All sorts of stuff, from travel literature, history, fiction, classics, philosophy and memoir. And I like to end each year with a quick wrap up of what I liked best.
It might surprise you to learn that I changed my name when I wrote Vagabond Dreams.
No, I didn’t trudge down to the courthouse and get myself a new legal alias.
I changed my name in the manuscript.
I found a quote in my notebook that I want to share with you:
“Studies are pointed to indicating that of all the professions medicine is the one most likely to attract people with high personal anxieties about dying.” How We Die: Reflections on Life’s Final Chapter by Sherwin B. Nuland
